The test of Endurance
by RichaCo
Summary: In an attempt to find out who is stronger, Albel makes a suggestion to Nel... she agrees...


Right my newest addiction has to do with the game Star Ocean: Till the Ends of Time. Albel/Nel is one of my favorite pairings, but I can never just picture the two of them being all lovey-dovey with one another, so this is just a humorous look at one possibility of a… "relationship" with them, lol.

The Test of Endurance

Nel frowned gently, letting her two short swords drop from her hands, her skin coated with sweat. She leaned against the wall of the training arena, running a hand through her red hair. Sitting down, she looked across the room to see that her sparring partner was doing the same, sheathing his katana and wiping the sweat off his brow.

Albel was her sparring partner and he wasn't sure exactly how long ago it had been since they had started this little contest, but he knew that it had been a while. For a few months, at least, the two of them had still been in a battle for dominance. Their countries might have settled their differences with one another, but Nel and Albel were warriors, driven for fighting and dominance. Each of them thought him or herself better than their opponent, with good reason. As a result of this feud, they both had started sparring together on a regular basis to try and determine which was stronger, but so far, by Albel's count, the score was tied at no wins for him, no wins for her, and about a thousand ties.

He looked up, noting that Nel was moving. She picked up her two short swords from where they had landed and sheathed them, sighing gently. "What does that make it now? Around one thousand and fourteen ties?"

Albel snorted and stood up, rubbing his gauntlet arm, the one that had the demonic clawed gauntlet that he used as a secondary weapon. "One thousand and fifteen, wench. Learn to count."

Nel scowled a bit, clenching her fists. She wished that, for once, she could just beat the living daylights out of him without having to worry about retaliation from him or his kingdom. "It wouldn't matter if I was off by one or one hundred, Albel. Neither of us has managed to win a single battle with one another since we started this silly contest."

Albel sighed, knowing that she was right. What was the use of keeping score if there was nothing to keep score of? He chuckled a bit under his breath. He had an idea, one that would do many things at once. It would please him, humiliate her, and prove once and for all which of them was stronger. "Here's an idea… how about we switch the conditions again."

Nel raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked, her hands moving to her hips, just above the sheathed swords.

Albel's own sword arm rested on the hilt of his katana, his claw hand swinging back and forth gently and limply at his side. "Here's what I mean, woman… instead of a contest of raw strength and fighting talent… why not a contest of endurance."

Nel raised an eyebrow. "Endurance?" she asked. "What kind of challenge would this be now?"

Albel smirked a bit. "If your interested, then meet me at the waterfall on the Sanmite Steppe at sundown today." He turned and walked away before she could question him further.

Of course, Nel was now curious. She sometimes had trouble reading that man. He was rude, crude, egotistical and maniacal, but some part of her just told her to trust him. They had gone together to help save their world before, right? He hadn't killed her then, she doubted that he would start now, even if he was bored. Both of them benefited from their sparring, and she knew he would never give up an opportunity to get stronger, even if it meant working with a former enemy. Though she was wary, she decided to go, if only to humor him and see what exactly he had in mind. But for now, she simply headed back to her room to bathe and clear the sweat and stench of battle from her skin.

The day wore on with not so much as a single disturbance. Elicoor was at total peace right now. It was nice, but left many soldiers without jobs. With no war, there wasn't much use for an army, so only a select few were kept in uniform as ordinary security for the castle. Nel herself had been granted only a temporary leave of absence from her duties since there was always need of a spy. Airyglyph, being a very military nation, laid off very few of its own soldiers, and Albel was still the leader of the black brigade, which was currently seeing a sudden rush of new recruits.

As sundown approached, Nel quickly made sure that all her gear was in proper working order before she started out of the castle. It would be a warm night, she noted, no breezes and the warmth the sun had graced the day with would linger, though it would get colder near midnight and knowing how Albel got about these challenges, dragging them on as long as he could. The walk from Peterny to the Sanmite Steppe wasn't a long one and she soon found herself next to the large waterfall near the entrance to the Duggas Forest. The area had been clean of most monsters since Luther's defeat, though a stray scorpion sometimes wandered by.

Seeing no sign of Albel, Nel crossed her arms and waited. She smirked as she heard footsteps behind her. "You're late, Albel."

Albel snorted gently and walked up next to her. "I'm not late… you are early."

Nel rolled her eyes slightly, as if she hadn't had that line told to her before. Sighing, she strolled to the edge of the water, looking at the current. The waterfall was quiet when compared to other rivers on Elicoor. "Alright, Albel… what was this idea you had to settle this… a test of endurance you called it."

Albel nodded and strolled up casually, sitting on a rock in arms reach of her. He took off the sword he had brought with him and threw it to the side. "You should do the same with your swords."

Nel looked at him then at the sword he had cast aside before unsheathing one of her blades and throwing it down. "You still have one weapon… I think I'll keep one of my own as well." She was obviously talking about his claw.

Albel chuckled gently, but nodded. "Fine, do what you wish, wench."

Nel placed her hands on her hips, staring at him, in arms reach of him now. "Now, what was your idea?" she asked again, getting annoyed that he wouldn't answer her outright.

Albel grinned quickly and grabbed her arm before she could react and pulled her down over his lap, a surge of lust filling his mind for a split second, though he quickly dismissed it. "This was my idea." He answered her, ignoring her protests and squirms. He reached down and lifted up her skirt, causing her to blush and squirm harder. They were quite evenly matched, but Albel had her at a disadvantage. He grabbed her panties and forced them down, revealing her pale behind to him. He kept her pinned with his claw hand and slowly ran a few fingers over her pert nether flesh, causing both of them to shiver.

Nel took in a sharp breath. "So, your plan was to grope and molest me?" she asked with a growl.

Albel shook his head. "No, not at all. This is a test of endurance, woman… let us see how much you can endure, hm?" he asked, giving her arse a hard slap with his free hand, causing Nel to let out a large yelp. Albel chuckled. "Just let me know when you can't stand it anymore." He informed her, continuing to slap her ass, causing it to jiggle ever so slightly. She had a tough, muscular behind, one that wouldn't bruise easily.

Nel bit her lip as the blows continued to rain down on her, Albel's arm strong from his years of swordsmanship and his speed equal to that of hers. His accuracy was nothing to shirk either, each blow landing dangerously close to the last point of impact, though he did alternate from cheek to cheek. She gasped and panted a bit, now seeing what he meant by a test of endurance. Her toes curled a bit in her shoes and she gripped the ground between her fingers tightly. Damn, he really was merciless and wicked…

SMACK! SLAP! SPANK! SPLAT! SPANK! SPANK! SMACK! WHACK!

Albel's eyes refused to leave her pert bottom, which was rapidly turning from pale to pink to red. His strength and speed in which he applied the slaps only increased as he continued to rain painful blows down on her. She was squirming harder now, a distinct sign that it was getting uncomfortable now. He readjusted her a bit to bring her body closer to his stomach, if only to hold her more firmly in place.

Nel groaned a bit, a few scant tears flooding her eyes for a few brief seconds, but she tried desperately to blink them back, trying to keep Albel from seeing, though his eyes continued to remain on another part of her anatomy.

SWAT, SLAP, WHACK, SMACK, SMACK, SPANK, SPANK, SPLAT!

Nel's breathing picked up and she groaned again, a small but noticeable whimper mixed into it. At last, the dam broke and she pounded her fists against the ground, a few tears leaking from her eyes. "Albel, Stop it now!" she demanded, her voice almost breaking, the pain becoming unbearable.

Albel obliged her, though he landed one last hard slap in the center of her butt before letting her off. He stood up and laughed lightly as she attempted to cover her more womanly parts and rub her backside at the same time. "Don't bother, wench, it isn't anything I haven't seen before."

Nel grumbled a bit and ignored him, continuing to keep herself covered and rubbing her backside swiftly. "Hmph, a spanking? Who would have known that Albel the wicked would have such a naughty fetish." She smirked at him, obviously trying to tease him."

Albel remained calm and merely shrugged the comment off. "Think what you wish, woman, but I'm certain you could tell why I called it a test of endurance. You endured well for a female, almost thirty minutes."

Nel raised an eyebrow. It had only been thirty minutes. The pain had stretched it out into an eternity for her. "So? Now what?"

Albel shrugged a bit, looking away for a second. "Well, ordinarily in a challenge, once one has had a chance to attempt it, the opponent must do the same."

Nel got what he was saying right off and a mental image of Albel over her knee crying like a baby appeared. She mentally laughed at the thought, but it seemed like fair revenge for what he had done to her… and without a single warning as well, no time for mental preparation the way he would have. She sat down and pat her legs, suddenly playing the part of a mother about to discipline a child. "Alright then, come over here."

Albel snorted and didn't give her the pleasure of pulling him over her lap as he had done to her, lowering himself over her knees voluntarily, his clawed hand scraping the ground gently, the view not nearly as pleasing here as it had been from where he had been sitting before.

Nel was actually rather surprised that he would even allow her to go this far. Obviously he was willing to give her a fair chance at this, though his honor was as much at stake as hers had been. Then again, he had said before that he was a fair man on the battlefield and that he didn't need advantages to help him. He was right on most accounts. Nel cleared her might and took in a deep breath, having never before seen another person unclothed before besides close relations such as her mother or father at times, and only during bathing. She reached down carefully, grabbing the long robe-like cloth that he wore around his legs and drew it up, blushing a bit. Albel looked up and grinned at this. "You like what you see?" he teased, wiggling a bit over her legs.

Nel growled gently. The bastard hadn't worn a loin cloth and had caught her totally off guard with the fact that he wore nothing under this robe. For the first time, she also noticed that he was barefoot as well. "Bastard…" she whispered quickly, raising her hand and landing a sharp slap on his backside.

Nothing, not even a grunt. Albel just lay there, as if still waiting for her to begin. Nel mentally growled again and slapped his arse a second time, with the same result, then a third. No change. Getting annoyed now, Nel braced him up against her like he had done and pinned him down carefully, taking steady aim. She launched into a frenzy of blows, sending her hand all over his behind, never leaving her hand on it for more than a split second before landing another blow in another place.

SMACK, SLAP, SLAP, SPANK, SPANK, SPANK, SMACK, SMACK, SLAP!

Now Albel was beginning to register the fact that she was even touching him. He let out a few grunts and placed both his hands down on the ground to keep himself from lurching at the ferocity of her blows. Oh, she was much better at this now that she was over her initial shyness. Must be a virgin, otherwise, she might not have been so shy or surprised when she had discovered the fact that he wore nothing underneath his robe. Then again, most women, even married ones, even widows sometimes reacted the same way. She was stronger than he had anticipated, he was actually having to carefully control himself to keep from giving anything more than a grunt.

Nel's breathing picked up a bit, the sensation of her hand against his butt starting to flood her mind a bit. She tried her best to keep the thought of lust out of her, but the fact that she was actually touching that specific part of a man, even though it was for other reasons, caused her to waver a bit, though the feeling was not unpleasant. She saw that Albel was holding himself quite nicely and knew that unless she did something to tip the scales in her favor, Albel would win and there was no telling what sort of prize he would ask for after this. She grinned a bit and slowly rolled his sheathed sword over to her with her foot, grateful that it had landed so close to this rock when he had discarded it.

Albel felt her stop slapping and thought she was giving up, but as he started to get up, he was roughly forced back down by Nel's elbow and gasped when he heard a weapon being drawn from its sheath. Slowly, he turned his head and his eyes widened to see Nel smirking at him, his own sword in her hand. She threw the sheath to the side and Albel started to squirm a bit. "No fair!" he shouted quickly.

Nel shook her head and kept him pinned, pressing the cold steel against his backside, causing him to gasp a bit. "Now now, you never said anything about not using tools, Albel." She quickly raised the sword and brought it down against his unprotected behind before he could do anything or protest again. Albel's whole body jumped a bit and he squirmed harder, the blow leaving a large red streak against his skin. Nel smirked. "So, this is your weakness in this particular position, ne?" she asked too sweetly, repeating the action over and over again.

SLAP! SLAP! SMACK! SPANK! SPANK! SPANK!

Albel's body went limp over her lap at last and he gripped her leg. "STOP!" he shouted loudly, panting, his body coated with sweat and a tear or two running down his face.

Obediently, Nel threw down the sword which had temporarily become a paddle and allowed Albel up, glad that his robes quickly dropped down to cover whatever else he was hiding under there. He quickly rubbed at his butt and scowled at her. "You… you cheated!" he accused, still rubbing his butt.

Nel chuckled a bit and stood up, her own behind still tingling from her own spanking. "Albel, you were the one who arranged this challenge and you never set any boundaries as to tools that could be used."

Albel simply snorted, knowing that she was right and hating that he had not had such a forethought as that. "Fine then… what was my time?"

Nel thought for a second. "Thirty minutes exactly."

Albel picked up his sword and sheathed it, his aggravation still clear. "So, it's another tie?" he asked quickly.

Nel nodded gently. "It appears so…"

Albel nodded and grinned a bit. "Alright then… how about we repeat this little challenge later, hm? Who knows, you might have won just by a fluke."

Nel smirked a bit and pressed her hands against her hips, her fingertips lightly grazing her sore behind. "It's a challenge then. Same place and time in three days? That should be enough time for us to recover."

Albel nodded. "Agreed." Then, he was gone, just as quickly as he had appeared.

Nel shrugged and sheathed her swords, sighing a bit. "See you soon, Albel." She whispered, rushing off back towards the castle.

**END**


End file.
